A Sticky Situation
by termhn
Summary: Edelgard is the pride of the Adrestian junior division synchronized swim team: she is calm, cool, collected, confident, and, of course, a champion. But at her first international meet, she's feeling some nerves, and is having trouble getting her swim suit on, much less successfully performing her act. Thankfully, Byleth is there to give her some help with both.


Edelgard von Hresvelg did not get nervous. As the pride of the Adrestian junior division synchronized swim team, she was calm, cool, collected, confident, and, of course, a champion. And yet, standing in the women's locker room of the swim complex at Garreg Mach University, thousands of miles away from her home pool, she could feel the dampness of sweat on her palms. She tried to deny the foreign fluttering of 'butterflies' in her stomach, but could only do so for so long. She held one hand on her left breast, stretching it as well as she could as she used her other hand to press tape over the nipple, but cursed under her breath when sweat again caused her hand to slip and crease the tape. She groaned as she discarded the stretch of ruined tape and let her hands fall to her sides, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

She was currently in the process of getting suited up for her performance in the finals of the women's solo free show at the annual international showcase meet hosted here at Garreg Mach. Simply getting to this stage had been her goal for as long as she could remember, and now she had not only gotten here, but she had a shot at her dream. She had a shot to win the gold medal, to win an international competition. For herself, and for her team and her country. But, in her current state of nervousness, she thought, not only was she going to fail at that, she was going to fail at even getting into her goddess-damned swimsuit.

Part of getting suited up included taping over her nipples with skin-colored tape, as the transparent lycra swim suit that she wore was liable to move during the strenuous performance, and you didn't want to flash the judges should it happen to move in the wrong way. The problem was, getting the tape to lay flat and properly over your nipple was not such an easy task, and she had just proven so by failing to do it properly three times in a row.

"Need some help with your tape?"

The unfamiliar voice brought Edelgard out of her self-pitying stupor, and she opened her eyes to find another swimmer standing next to her. This newcomer was tall, several inches taller than Edelgard herself. She had messy blue-green hair that fell down past her shoulders, striking cobalt eyes, and a confident and powerful stature. Her expression was blank but somehow welcoming, the barest hint of a smile wrinkling around her eyes.

"I-," Edelgard began, but wasn't able to get in even a second word before the other girl was right in front of her, almost pressing her back into the lockers behind her, and her tape had somehow found its way to the other girl's hand.

Girls helping each other with taping wasn't an uncommon event in the locker rooms, and indeed Edelgard's teammates had done it for her many times in the past. But this time, when Edelgard felt the other girl's hand on her breast, already beginning its work with a slow and practiced ease, her breath caught in her throat. Edelgard flushed and her world seemed to come to a standstill as she felt her breast being slowly but expertly spread around her nipple by the girl's skilled fingers, the other hand ready to apply the tape. This girl's hands were strong, firm, unyielding, but not uncomfortable... sensitive, even.

Edelgard was looking up at her face, and she saw the girl bite lightly on her tongue, which she had stuck out of the side of her mouth the tiniest bit in concentration. _Adorable,_ she thought, then flushed further because she had, and averted her eyes downward... Which turned out to be a mistake, as she took in the toned shoulders that peeked through messy, wavy hair, muscled arms which were currently reaching out to touch _her_, and finally the girl's rather generous chest which currently left little to the imagination, contained in her own lycra swimsuit. Edelgard thought her heart may have skipped a beat, then, or even just stopped entirely.

Before she knew what was even happening again, she felt and saw the girl's hands pull away from her, looked up to see her tongue was now entirely back in her mouth (disappointingly, Edelgard thought), and then wasn't quite so disappointed when the girl's lips quirked up into one of the cutest smiles she had ever had the pleasure of witnessing.

"There you go-all done," the girl said matter-of-factly, and indeed, once Edelgard's brain had caught half-way up, she looked down and saw that her taping had been done flawlessly.

She felt one of those wonderful hands again, on her right shoulder this time, which was less nice than on her breast, but still better than not being there at all, and looked back up to that amazing smile.

"This your first time at Garreg Mach?" The girl questioned, and Edelgard could do little but swallow and nod in response. She was racking her addled brain trying to figure out if she knew who this girl was, but she didn't think she had ever seen her before, in person or in any of the online competitors' registries.

The girl nodded in response, and squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"Look, you're in the finals of an international competition. You deserve to be here. I know it, the judges know it, and most importantly," she said, moving her hand to push a finger into Edelgard's chest, just over her heart, "you know it."

"You just need to remember that, and you'll kill it."

With that, the girl gave her one last smile and then turned away, striding down the line of lockers. Just before she was out of sight, she turned back, as if an afterthought, and said,

"Oh, I'm Byleth, by the way. See you around."

Byleth gave a nod and then strode off around the corner.

When Edelgard's brain finally caught up a full second later, she called after her,

"E-Edelgard! Edelgard von Hresvelg!"

* * *

Edelgard stared at the spot Byleth (now Edelgard was sure she didn't know who the girl was; she'd have to look her up later...) had occupied a moment before, but didn't receive a response. After a few seconds, she took a short but deep breath, sighing and collecting her thoughts as she finished slipping into her swim suit.

She appraised herself in the mirror, smiling as she'd practiced so many times, and found everything was in tip top shape, and yet... Still, something was off. Edelgard's smile faltered just a bit as she looked down to her stomach in the mirror, where those butterflies were still beating their wings. She took a breath and shook her shoulders and arms, trying to ward it off, but instead she felt a rock take up residence in her stomach, sinking it straight to the floor, and she worriedly bit her lip.

"Edelgard von Hresvelg", a voice came over the intercom into the locker room, "please come poolside for your pre-show check."

She flinched, quickly putting her things back into her locker and then speedwalking out to the check area, which was inside one of the tunnels under the first level of grand stands. The officials there did their usual little check, and, once satisfied, nodded and told her to stand on deck. She watched out from the end of the tunnel as the girl before her did her show. Her form was pristine, her movements beautiful, and when her show ended, she got deafening applause, only amplified by her current position in the tunnel.

Edelgard gulped.

The coordinater put her hand on Edelgard's shoulder and she almost jumped out of her skin. The woman raised her eyebrow and gave Edelgard a short look, but nodded that it was her time to go out.

Edelgard took a breath and steeled herself. She walked out of the tunnel and to the edge of the catwalk area next to the pool, and did a last-minute shake-out and stretch of her body parts as she had so many times before. Somehow she still felt stiff, even after her warm-up was complete. She looked around the massive grandstands that surrounded her and suddenly felt very, very small. Her shoulders bowed inwards and she took a shuddering breath. Her heart started to beat faster as she realized she wasn't in the right mindset to perform. She was going to go out there and fail. She'd mess up, her form would be too rigid, she'd-

"- welcome, Edelgard von Hresvelg!"

Her name on the announcer's tongue was like touching a match to gasoline that had been spread across her nerves. Her introduction was already complete. This was it, it was now or never, and yet she just stood there like a deer in headlights, eyes skittering across the mass of people in front of her.

And then her eyes landed on a smock of blue-green hair and was drawn as if by gravity down to the cobalt eyes beneath. Byleth was looking right at her, that same blank but welcoming expression on her face as they locked eyes from across the arena. And then, Byleth gave the barest hint of a smile and nodded at Edelgard, her hand coming up and pointing as if to touch her, just as she had done in the locker room, over her heart.

_'You deserve to be here... You know it. You just need to remember that, and you'll kill it.'_, she remembered. Edelgard recalled the feeling of Byleth's hand on her shoulder and her chest, and slowly, her shoulders relaxed, falling back into the confident posture she usually held. She remembered all the toil, the time, the effort she'd put in to get to this moment. She _did_ deserve to be here. She _had this_.remembered

And as the familiar tune of the music she would perform to began to play, she settled back into the rhythm of the performance she had drilled so many times. Her eyes remained locked on Byleth's for a moment longer, and then she was spinning into a twirl as she strode forward on the catwalk, preening to the crowd and the judges. She came to a standstil once more at the edge of the center of the pool, and then dove in, in time with the music.

Her skin felt electric, but in a good way, the cool tinge of water sliding over it enhancing her every feeling. She surfaced upside down, legs coming up out of the water in a perfectly controlled pointe and then moving in time with the dramatic change of music, back and forth and then under the water once more.

She spun, form perfect even under the water and came up in a backstroke as she glided across the water and into the next part of her routine, this time beginning with her chest out of the water, arms coming up forward and then twisting back. She once again dove under the surface and let herself become lost in the familiar water dance she had become so accustomed to...

In what seemed to be the blink of an eye, the music came to a crescendo and then stopped, her performance over. She was left breathing heavily, her ending pose stretching on as she held her torso out of the water, her arms splayed beautifully above her, and finally she smiled. Slowly, her senses other than the feel of the water returned, and she heart the crowd applauding. Applauding _her_, and so much louder than she had ever heard before. She took in the enormity of Garreg Mach's pool complex once again, her eyes scanning across those cheering as she spun in the water, savoring this feeling. She knew that, no matter her result, she'd laid it all out in the water, and she could be content with her performance.

And then, her eyes landed back on that mop of messy, blue-green hair and locked with Byleth's deep cobalt eyes. The girl was clapping enthusiastically, a smile on her face that reached her eyes, and she winked. Edelgard's smile redoubled, and she bowed her head forward in silent thanks.

* * *

Edelgard found herself back in the locker room, still glowing from the adrenaline high she'd just been through. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she slipped her swimsuit off, about to go hop in the shower to clean the chlorine water off. She wiggled out of the tight swimsuit and let it pool at her feet, then opened her eyes and began to peel at the tape over her nipples with the nail on her thumb. But, the damn things would not budge. The tape they used was intentionally very strong in order to survive the water and intense movement, which could sometimes make taking them off difficult. They had never been quite so difficult before though... the tape hadn't even wrinkled. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders, and decided to give it another try after running them under the warm water of the shower.

Ten minutes later, after allowing herself a couple minutes of luxuriating and relaxing under the therapeutically warm water, and then eight minutes of slowly picking at the tape, hoping the water would loosen it, Edelgard was again getting agitated. While she had managed to get a piece peeling up, doing so had hurt and caused the sensitive skin underneath to tear slightly and bleed. Picking at that area again, she nicked the sore skin and sucked in a breath, clenching her stomach at the sharp but thankfully brief pain, before cursing and grumbling at herself.

Edelgard heard a knock on the wall just outside her shower stall, on the other side of the drawn curtain.

"Everything alright in there?" called a now-familiar voice.

Edelgard paled. How embarrassing was this? Not only could she not get the tape on, now she couldn't even get it off. She steeled herself and resolved she would get it herself eventually.

"Fine-!" She called back.

There was a pause, the moment growing pregnant as Edelgard could tell Byleth was still standing just outside her stall. Then, Byleth drew aside the curtain slightly to take a peek in. Edelgard flushed and reacted after just an instant, reaching one arm up to cover herself and the other to slide the curtain back closed right in Byleth's face. She stood there, tense, and responded in a high tone, "Byleth! What are you doing?!"

She could see the other girl shrug her shoulders by her shadow moving on the shower curtain, and take a single step back.

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright. Well, if you insist you are..." Byleth turned and began to walk away.

Edelgard's breath caught in her throat for a moment, then made a decision.

"Byleth!" she yelled softly, then paused. She heard the girl's footfalls stop.

"Yes?"

"I... Well, the tape you put on isn't coming off, even after leaving it under running water for a while." Edelgard cringed, embarrassed at her admission, then admonished herself for being embarrassed. She wasn't even sure why she thought it was so embarrassing in the first place, but she didn't want to make herself look dumb in front of Byleth.

"Ah! One minute," Byleth said, and then walked away, her footsteps echoing for a few more moments before they faded away. Edelgard finally relaxed her pose and went back under the warm stream of water. Bylteh obviously had an effect on her, and while Edelgard certainly knew _why,_ she didn't want to be _that_ obvious, and she wasn't acting like her usual self. She soon heard those foot steps returning, and took a deep breath, resolving to act more normally.

What she definitely _wasn't_ prepared for was Byleth to stride right up to her shower stall and then pull the curtain aside aside as if that were perfectly normal, stepping in with her. In what was an almost exact repeat of before, Byleth stepped up right in front of her, backing her into the shower wall behind her, and Edelgard let out a soft squeak at both the instant close proximity and the sharply cold feel of the tile at her back.

"Baby oil," Byleth said, and raised up a small bottle that Edelgard had yet to notice in her hand. She raised it and poured some into her hand, then rubbed it gently along the edges and then over the entire piece of tape.

Edelgard's brain about short circuited at the feeling, the beautiful face looming above her hypnotizing as that strong, powerful, gentle, amazing hand worked its magic. She wasn't even _doing_ anything that special, yet somehow Byleth made it so. Byleth's eyes were focused down where her hands were, and Edelgard would have blushed at that thought if she wasn't already so entranced, but it let Edelgard stare unabashedly at Byleth's face.

Her nose and jawline was sharp, cheekbones not pronounced but somehow still incredibly pretty, those _eyes_, and finally the lips that were currently closed around her tongue again. Edelgard swallowed as she stared at those lips, flicking back to Byleth's eyes and then down to her lips again. Goddess, she wanted to lean forward, and up, and kiss those lips.

Too soon, she felt the absence of Byleth's hands on her chest, and looked down to see why, before noticing that both of the pieces of tape had come cleanly off and were now held in Byleth's hand. Edelgard looked back up, to find Byleth looking back down at her, an indeterminate expression on her face. She swore she could almost see a flush on those cheeks, but... The woman casually lifted her hand up, holding up the discarded pieces of tape in it.

"All done," she said, then quirked a small smile.

Edelgard cleared her throat, averting her eyes downard for a moment before looking back up at Byleth.

"Ah-thank you. I didn't feel a thing," she said with one small laugh, a grateful smile on her lips, and then averted her eyes to the side of the shower.

"And, thank you for the help out there... in the arena, I mean." Her eyes came back up to meet those cobalt ones that still looked down at her. "I don't think I could have done it without you," she finished, straightening slightly and smiling at the memory of the performance.

Byleth smiled above her, and Edelgard thought that, even if she hadn't won gold, it was worth it to have been able to see this woman smile like that. Byleth moved one of her hands to rest on the shower wall behind Edelgard, right next to her hand, and leaned some of her weight on it. Edelgard's eyes flicked over to that arm, the muscle there, and her eyes widened slightly before she turned back to Byleth.

"I'm glad I could help. You were amazing out there, Edelgard," she said, and it was the first time Edelgard had heard her name on Byleth's lips. She started slightly, then smiled. She could get used to hearing her name on those lips.

Those lips. The thought brought Edelgard back to staring at Byleth's lips, currently turned up in a bare smile, which was _not_ an activity she should have been doing in that moment, because she remembered _other_ things she wanted to hear, and feel, from those lips. Suddenly Edelgard was painfully aware of Byleth's arm at the side of her head, between her and the exit of the shower, and of their proximity. Was it just her mind playing tricks, or was Byleth closer than a moment ago?

Edelgard gulped and looked up into Byleth's eyes. She was no longer smiling, and now an almost contemplative expression rested on her visage. Edelgard watched as the other girl's eyes flicked down to her own lips and then back up to lock with her gaze once more. The moment stretched on, Edelgard's eyes occasionally flicking down to Byleth's lips and then back up, her heart beating faster and harder but her breath coming shallower. Finally, she broke their gaze, looking down between them.

"Byleth, I-"

And then she felt those calloused but soft fingers on the bottom of her chin, tilting her head up for just a moment before soft but firm lips contacted her own. Edelgard's eyes went wide and her brain misfired as she realized Byleth had kissed her. _Byleth was kissing her!_

Before her brain had restarted enough to function, those amazing lips slowly pulled away from her own, and their owner dropped her hand from her chin and turned away, taking a step toward the shower curtain.

Byleth took a breath. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I got carried away and-"

Edelgard's vision went red for a moment as she mentally berated herself, for not reacting quicker, and Byleth, for both having such an effect on her and for pulling away so soon.

"Oh no you don't, you little..." she muttered under her breath.

Emboldened by her anger, Edelgard grabbed Byleth by the shoulder and flipped her around. She pushed forward, hands on both of Byleth's shoulders now as she pushed her firmly into the wall of the shower. She pressed forward and up onto her toes to press her lips to Byleth's own, barely pausing to register satisfaction at seeing Byleth's eyes widen in surprise before closing her own and giving in to the feeling of the kiss.

Byleth's lips, much like the rest of Byleth, it seemed, were both firm and yet incredibly soft at the same time, and Edelgard pressed into her eagerly. It took only a second for Byleth to reciprocate, moving her lips gently and bringing her (_strong, soft, amazing_) hands up to wrap around Edelgard's back and pull her in further.

Edelgard felt the low rumble of a moan pass up Byleth's throat and into her mouth, and Edelgard smiled into the kiss at the sensation, proud that she could cause such a noise. She moved a hand from Byleth's shoulder to cup the side of her cheek as she licked over Byleth's bottom lip and then gave it a little nip with her teeth.

Byleth growled in response and slid her hands firmly down Edelgard's back until they grasped the white-haired girl's butt and then squeezed firmly and pulled upward. Edelgard gasped and moaned lightly, feeling Byleth's body flex from her fingers, up her arms to her chest as she was picked up. Her legs instinctively came up to wrap around Byleth's waist as she was turned around and pushed back into the wall once more. Their kiss broke for just a moment as her back hit the tile behind her, and Edelgard stared with hazy vision into Byleth's own smouldering eyes staring right back at her. A moment later, Byleth's mouth was back on hers, both their lips parting as their tongues began a battle for dominance.

Byleth's hands grasped and neaded Edelgard's butt, coaxing little jolts, gasps, and moans from her, while the Adrestian's own hands cupped Byleth's jaw and squeezed at one of her biceps. After a few moments, Edelgard felt Byleth's mouth break away from hers, and she let out a soft whine at the loss, but soon felt those wonderful lips back on her skin. They trailed down her cheek to her jaw then back to the soft skin where it met her neck, and Edelgard threw her head back and bit her lip hard, letting out a soft moan when Byleth bit down on that sensitive skin lightly. The move only served to encourage the blue-haired woman and to give her more access to Edelgard's neck, and she wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation.

Edelgard's brain was once again on high, mind flitting back and forth between the wonderful feeling of those fingers gripping her butt, the soft lips dragging along her neck to claim it, and the slow, tortuous friction that came from the unconscious thrusting rhythm of Byleth's hips into her own.

"Byleth..." the woman's name escaped her lips, and she could feel a smile being pressed into her collarbone, where the other woman's kissing had finally brought her. Those lips left for a moment and then pressed softly once more into Edelgard's own, kissing her back down to look Byleth in the eyes.

"Yes, Edelgard?" she whispered in the tiny bit of air between them as she pulled away, both of their gazes flitting between each others' eyes and mouths.

Edelgard took the chance to take a deep breath and regain her conscious thought processes somewhat. When she did, and fully realized exactly her and Byleth's positions, she flushed bright red and gulped, looking away. As much as she was _thoroughly_ enjoying what was currently happening, she knew that continuing past where they were currently could only end up in one place, and she wasn't sure the thinking part of her was ready for that yet.

Though she thought it in her mind, she struggled to form the words to tell this to the girl in front of her what she wanted. She turned back to look at Byleth, and her breath caught in her throat as she took in the sight before her. Byleth's cheeks were flushed slightly, hair wet and disheveled, breath coming out in short puffs. Those piercing cobalt eyes were locked onto her, and her lips were pursed in the cutest, smallest pout.

"Byleth, I..."

Edelgard bit her lip and extended a hand out to cup Byleth's jaw, stroking over her cheek gently with her thumb.

"Goddess, I just want to kiss you again," she blurted, then flushed brightly and averted her gaze when she realized what she'd said. She felt Byleth's lips press into the side of her jaw ever so softly and then pull away, pulling Edelgard's gaze back with them. There was that expression, again. Blank, and yet somehow inviting, trusting. Edelgard took another breath.

"But... I also know I'm not really ready for where I know that would take us," she admitted, seeing the barest flicker of disappointment in Byleth's eyes, which caused her heart to sink slightly, but then that flicker was gone, replaced by... admiration?

"I understand. I'm just glad to have you here, now," came the reply. After a moment's pause, the woman leaned forward to capture her lips in an _infuriatingly_ tender kiss. When she moved to pull away, Edelgard followed her for just a moment before letting their lips break, breath still mingling.

Edelgard cleared her throat and pulled back further.

"That said, I... definitely would like to see if we could get there. Eventually," she choked out, flushing, but forcing herself to hold the other woman's gaze. Her eyes flitted around Byleth's face to judge her reaction, and Edelgard's heart soared as she watched that beautiful smile she was already learning to love spread slowly across her face.

"I think I would like that, too, Edelgard von Hresvelg."


End file.
